Edge of the World
by EhCanuck
Summary: At Six, Tony and Maria had accompanied Howard to Europe before he set out for his annual expedition in the Arctic. On their way home, the ship encounters a heavy storm and Tony falls overboard. When he wakes, he's washed ashore on a beach and meets, of all things, a Dinosaur.


**Because Cross-over ideas won't leave me alone. What do you think, worth continuing?**

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><p>It's only when the alarms start going that he wakes up.<p>

At first he thinks that it might be a drill or something as the captain had told them that they were going to be running some in the next three days. However, when it didn't stop, he naïvely thought that it might be the Russians (his brain didn't supply a reason _why_ of course) trying to sink them!

But it's not a drill or submarines attacking or anything like that at all.

No, as he runs up to join the rest of crew and passengers on deck, it's something infinitely more dangerous. A great storm is brewing just off the starboard and already the corvette is pitching and yawing as the waves grow and rain begins to fall.

As all hands begin to scurry about their positions, throwing on life-jackets, closing hatches and doors and manning the pumps, a few young sailors begin to try to usher the rest of them (that is to say all the passengers) below deck. Tony though, Tony was not a stupid child and was already calculating their odds: considering the size of the waves already and the movement of the ship considering they were only at the edge of the storm; their odds of survival was less than 10%. Running back below deck, he first went to their room to retrieve his life jacket, his multi-tool and the small Captain America figurine that he slipped in his pocket before he tried to find his mother among the panicked mob below.

But she isn't there, he can't find her anywhere.

He wouldn't cry, not even if his Mama was missing. He was six after all and not a baby. No he was a Man as his Dad was always admonishing him to be and he _wouldn't _cry. Not even as the lights flickered, everyone else screamed, prayed and shouted and the ship pitched and groaned. No, he needed to be strong and find his Mama.

Having searched all the lower levels he could get access to and a little more besides, he began working his way back up to the deck.

Where was she? He needed to find her! He looked and looked but he was already back up on the floor just under the deck. Could, could she have fallen overboard? He couldn't help it, he couldn't: he panicked and ran up on deck shouting for his Mama just as a large wave crested over the side, sweeping him off his feet and into the churning water below.

Hi lifejacket pulled him back up the surface, coughing and spluttering, terror really beginning to sink in as he lost sight of the boat and wasn't able to see his Mama in the water either and...he was alone.

It was this realization that made his heart sink to his toes and for the tears that had been lurking to finally spill. What if they couldn't come back for him, what if they couldn't find him? He was a genius and couldn't delude himself: if that happened he would die here, alone, by drowning or from dehydration/starvation if he even survived the storm. What about his Mama? Who would tell Jarvis? He hoped that the Butler strike(best friend, teacher, dad)/strike would look after Dum-E for him so the poor bot wouldn't get lonely and would keep the aging man company. Tony felt more tears rise and he struggled to not let them fall, to not waste precious water while trying to keep his head from being submerged by each passing wave.

However, it was when a fin broke the water just a bit aways from him that he remembered that there could be a third potential fate waiting for him, what that became more and more likely as the fin and the owner of said fin came closer. He didn't want to be eaten! (He didn't want to drown and die of starvation/dehydration either but being eaten would _suck_)

He tried to kick his feet in violent circles and punch his hands forward, hoping to ward off the shark but the fin came closer until...a dolphin leaped out of the water and landed right beside him before swimming in circles around him.

Tony nearly began to cry again out of relief when it turned out to not be a shark with hundreds of pointy teeth but a typically human-friendly species instead and after a few nudges, he grabbed onto its slippery back and fin and it began to tow him along.

Tony hugged it as tightly as he dared as they cut through the frothing water and hopefully to safety but as time passed, he found himself unable to draw enough air and exhaustion wearing on him and slowly lost consciousness.

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><p>He woke up.<p>

That surprised him a bit as, well, a) he was reliably informed he was quite pessimistic/cynical for a kid and he had kinda expected to drown...But also as he didn't remember b) falling asleep/passing out or c) how he got here, muscles aching and sore on a sandy beach, waves lapping gently at his feet as the currents pushed the water around. He dragged a heavy hand across his eyes, dislodging some of the salt and sand sticking to his skin and eyes before opening his eyes fully.

He had never seen so many stars before, he thought blearily, each pinprick of light twinkling merrily back down at him; presenting a breathtaking canopy of stars for him to stare at. Hell, he could even see one of the arms of the Milky Way galaxy stretching it's way across the sky. Each dot of light varied in brightness and in hue depending on their age, distance, composition, and apparent and absolute magnitudes. Perhaps those two there were binary stars, close enough to orbit around each other, maybe the one to the left had a few planets and maybe the one close to the horizon had already supernova'd and its remnants was now the nursery for a new star. Perhaps that really bright star wasn't a star at all but rather another spiral galaxy like theirs composed of hundreds of thousands of stars, moons and planets, one of which might have life of its own!

It made him feel very small to think about, staring at the sky and realizing that even the Earth isn't much more than a bit of dust compared to the universe.

How long he lay there, he couldn't really say but as he woke up a bit more, his heart sank right to his toes as he then realized that the stars also accentuated how deep the inky blackness surrounding them was and thus, also the complete lack of light pollution (civilization) or any boat navigation lights.

He was alone.

The thought made his heart skip a beat and so, ignoring how his muscles _shrieked_ in complaint, he slowly propped himself up on his elbows and brought his knees up before gradually rolling himself into a crouched then standing position. His hands slipped into his pockets and while he was disappointed to note that the bit of wire and ball-bearing had fallen out his pocket, he was relieved to not that his self-improved Swiss army knife/multi-tool and Cap had not. After a moment of internal struggle (Howard wasn't here, wasn't here to disapprove), he pulled Cap out and held him close, running his thumb absently over the familiar plastic reassuringly.

The sun hadn't risen yet (was nowhere near the horizon far as he could tell) and Tony didn't know enough about the moon or night sky to tell what time it could be or how much time had passed since the storm and being washed overboard. Considering he had been made to go to bed at 20:00 and he had maybe gotten three hours of sleep (maximum) before the storm hit and also that the sun wasn't near the horizon despite it being summer and the days longer...it was probably around 2 or 3 at most. So he had at least another three hours before he had any light.

Not being able to spot any debris or clues about his location from the water, he turned to take in the rest of his surrounding as best he could by the moonlight. He groaned when he saw nothing but beach stretching out to the sides as far as he could see and only thick forest ahead with no hint of light or humanity. Sinking back to the ground, he decided he would rest here and wait for sunrise to come before trying to explore.

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><p>He hadn't meant to fall asleep, especially not so close to the sea but he had. He was first woken by sunlight, as the sun had crept over the horizon, but had instead buried his face in the crook of his arm and surrendered to his body's demands for just a little more rest. It was hard to say how much time passed after that but he was woken up again maybe two hours later by a concerned shout and hurried footsteps in the sand.<p>

Cracking open an eye, he blearily looked over to where an oddly dressed man was dismounting from...wait, that couldn't be right. He sat up quite quickly then, any idea of getting more rest forgotten, his eyes wide with shock and a little fear before he quickly rubbed his eyes and was surprised when his second look told him the same information as before. The man was fairly dark-skinned, like some of Howard's business partners from Turkey, and was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, loose yellow breeches and a sleeveless green tunic over-top along with a yellow helmet with a green crest covering dark brown curls. His mount though, his mount was a lambeosaurus! As Tony panicked, the round-crested (and therefore female!, his over working brain noted), duck-billed dinosaur alternated between making crooning sounds and distressed whining sounds as both she and he moved closer; the man with his hands up and making soothing sounds.

Seeming to conclude that Tony was afraid due to her size, the nine meter long bipedal dinosaur leaned down to move on all four legs before stretching out to whuff into Tony's hair and nudge him gently with her nose.

Holy shit!

There was a living dinosaur scenting him!

There was a living dinosaur!

DINOSAUR!

Tony's brain had more or less overheated at that point, incoherent words tumbling from his mouth without censure as he tried to wrap his mind around that there was a dinosaur nuzzling his face and making soothing noises.

Clearly he was dead. Or hallucinating. Either or really.

In that moment, he wanted nothing more then to go home and climb into Jarvis's bed , just to burrow under the sheets just as he had when he was little and scared. Seeking comfort from the darkness and his presence and feeling that nothing could harm him. He wanted to go _home _and his wanted _Jarvis. _To his mortification, he felt himself begin to shake and warm tears start to slide down his cheeks as his entire situation overwhelmed him.

The ship he was on had likely sunk. His Mama was likely dead. He was likely to never see any part of his old life again, well, while he wouldn't miss the celebrity, everything else... He appeared to be on some unknown island with dinosaurs. Who knew how friendly they all were along with any people that lived here? Tony wasn't very good at being appropriately social, he would probably end up offending all of them and being fed to a T-Rex or something.

He stiffened as he felt warm arms wrap around him and left him up before the man began to rub soothing circles into his back. Like a siren's song, the touch calmed him and soon he found himself completely relaxed into the man's embrace, his tenor voice rumbling in his ear saying...something soothingly. He hadn't even realized that they had gotten on the lambeosaurus until they were moving again.

Exhausted from the lack of sleep, emotional upheaval and from crying, he surrendered again to sleep and dozed off.

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><p>He only slept for about an hour or so, judging by how high the sun had risen when he woke again. Squirming, he got the man to loosen his hold so that he could turn in his seat and face forward instead, the man's arm snaking back around his middle to keep him in place.<p>

Now that he had rested, now that he'd had some time to process, the fear gave way to uninhibited wonder as the lambeosaurus picked her way through the forest, through the undergrowth, low-hanging branches and vines. He couldn't keep a smile from spreading across his face any more then he could keep the small delighted laugh inside.

The man laughed in return and said something in...could that be arabic? Tony wasn't sure, languages had never really held an interest for him so he hadn't bothered outside of learning English and Italian. So, hesitantly, he said hello in both to the man holding him as, after all, he was his only point of contact so far.

The Italian made the man laugh and he slowly replied in accented English, "So you do speak after all little one, myself and Longstride here were worried you had gone mute!"

"No!" Tony was quick to deny, as children tend to. "Not me, was, was just _surprised_ is all."

"I am sure." He replied, smile evident in his words. "My name is Onur little one, what are you called?"

"Pleased to meet you_, _I'm Anthony Edward Stark. Please call me Tony." He replied politely, just as Jarvis had showed him. He hesitated a moment before deciding to also greet the dinosaur, couldn't hurt after all and apparently she was also worrying about him. "Pleased to meet you as well Longstride?"

He then nearly fell off her back as after a series of clicks and squeaks, she replied, "And you as well young hatchling."

Right then, talking dinosaurs.

That was apparently a thing.

He was now nearly 100% sure he was hallucinating; practically nothing else could make sense.

Deciding to just roll with it and just enjoy – there was little he could do if he were hallucinating or not – he turned to look back out at the forest as they went through. He had had little interest in modern botany nevermind botany of extinct species so he did not recognize any of the fauna they were passing by. From what he could could tell: there were enormous trees, mostly deciduous with either speared leafs or ones that looked like maple leaves, large bushes and vines dotted with hundreds of various coloured flowers and plenty of long grass. There was a small river they crossed a little while later that had what looked to be willows, lily-pads, cat-tails and reeds growing along the side. He didn't spot them at first but once he got bored of looking at the scenery, he started to notice the minute rustling of plants and saw curious eyes looking back at them.

As they went around the bend, where the river fed into a still pool, there was a (pod? a herd?) bunch of lambeosaurus and charonosaurus feeding and playing in the water, while an ankylosauridae stopped for a drink on the far side.

Boy oh boy was Tony not in Kansas anymore.

This was incredible!

That pretty much set the tone for the day as Longstride followed the river deeper into the forest Tony saw all kinds of dinosaurs and the part of him that wasn't staring in wonder with each new thing was noting how some were coloured differently then in his books and some had _feathers _where he'd been taught they should have scales. Tony remained silent though, for all that he had thousands of questions he wanted answered – right now he needed Onur to get him somewhere safe (don't think he hadn't noticed that all the dinos they'd seen so far were herbivores) and it would really and truly suck if the man left him wherever for talking too much, just like Howard would have him sent away when he asked too many questions. They would have to wait until later but he was so so very tempted to just _ask_.

Where was he? What was this place? Why had he never heard of them before? How were the dinosaurs still alive when they were gone everywhere else? Why were some of the dinosaurs feathered? Why could they talk? (Was it insensitive to ask why they could talk?) What were all the species names that he didn't know, that didn't show up in his book? Were they all from the Cretaceous Period? Where were the carnivores? Where was Onur from? Did he get shipwrecked too? Were there other humans on the island? Why was he dressed like that? Did they have cars? How was the saddle they were in made? Was that climbing equipment he had seen by his saddle?

But Tony kept his peace and kept quiet, keeping his eyes peeled and cataloguing all his questions for later; taking everything in one sight at a time. It was only once the sun began to set that they began to run into more dinosaurs, some of which were also providing rides for people in brightly coloured clothes, many of whom were singing or talking quietly.

Then a city came into sight and Tony was rendered speechless; the buildings were all done in a Greco-Roman style (with the occasional flair of Egyptian/Middle Eastern here and there) made with what appeared to be marble and intricately carved with enormous arches for doors. The roads were wide and spotted with pots of plants, candle-lit streetlights, fountains and statues. But what really astounded Tony was the size; all the building were made large enough to fit even the brachiosaurus that was calmly munching leaves off one of the nearby trees. Onur seemed to realize Tony's stupor and laughed warmly.

"Welcome little one to our capital of Sauropolis. It makes my heart glad to see your delight in it's sight." He said before Longstribe brought them over to one of the many buildings before at last coming to a halt. Onur got off her broad back first before turning to help Tony down who winced once his feet were on the ground having not realized how sore he was before that moment. Onur then gently took his hand and led him over to one of the series of carved steps and ladders that went up the side. "I'm bringing you know to Bix III if you have no objection; he is our ambassador for the dolphinbacks and should be able to provide you with the answers to any questions that you may have."

Answers. That would be good. So, Tony nodded and allowed himself to be led away

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><p>He didn't like the answers he was getting.<p>

Bix III turned out to be a kindly aged Protoceratops how had calmly explained that he was now on the island that they called Dinotopia, a place where both humans and dinosaurs lived together.

He also explained the deadly reefs and how they were right smack-dab where approximately three strong currents met in addition to being surrounded by a violent storm system resulting in...

"What do you mean I can't leave?" Tony demanded hoarsely, cold fear gnawing at his insides.

Bix III sighed, "It is much too dangerous. That is why you have never heard tell of this place, to our knowledge, there is no safe way off the island alive. Few have attempted and all failed."

"No, you don't understand! I _have _to get off this island! I have to go home!"

The dinosaur nodded sympathetically before turning sad eyes to the frantic child "There is no known way... Is it so awful here? Stay, rest."

"I can't rest." He laughed mirthlessly running his hand through loose brown hair. "I need to get back! Jarvis! My...family needs me! Please!"

"Loyalty is good but not to the point of putting yourself needlessly in danger in order to be such." Commented the aged Protoceratops, "Of the few that tried, maybe three never returned in all our history; they have been assumed to have died. But if they managed to find safe passage from Dinotopia, they never returned so we don't know how and _if _they even did it. I can tell you are an intelligent boy and perhaps you will find a way off this island one day. However, tonight at the very least, you will be staying with us so let us get you to bed; it looks as though you are dead on your feet. " The creature began to walk away so he wordlessly followed, too exhausted to argue and after a few turns he was in a simple room. "Welcome to Dinotopia Anthony E. Stark. Breathe deep, seek peace."

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><p><strong>I know that the Milky Way galaxy is believed to be a barred spiral galaxy but this was not confirmed until the 90's so 6 year old Tony is working on outdated info. But yeah, kid was born right in time for the Space Race, can't imagine him not learning as much as he could about space while also looking at rockets and whatnot :P<strong>

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